The fourth T20I between India and South Africa will be played today and many cricket fans are hoping to see Umran Malik making his debut in today’s match. The young pacer from Jammu made headlines as he bowled regularly at around 150 km/hr in the IPL 2022 in which he played for Sunrisers Hyderabad. He took 22 wickets in the league which certainly helped him in getting the call for national duty despite the fact that some former cricketers have expressed their concern over his economy rate which was around 9 in the tournament.
Recently, South Africa’s Anrich Nortje who is also one of the fastest pacers of the world spoke on many issues including who will be the fastest and whether he is really bothered about the speed. Earlier, record of the second fastest (156.20 km/h) and the third fastest (155.21 km/h) delivery in the IPL was in the name of Anrich Nortje but in the IPL 2022, Umran Malik broke his record of the second fastest delivery by bowling at the speed of 157 km/hr in an IPL match and then he went on to bowl the fourth fastest delivery of the IPL in the same over.
Talking in the pre-match conference, Anrich Nortje states that at this level, he is not really concerned as to who the fastest is because what matters the most is how much you contribute towards the team. He adds that when he is not playing but training, at that time he thinks about how he can bowl faster but it is not the case when he is playing on the field. He further says that Umran Malik is a really good fast bowler and if he bowls faster than him (Anrich Nortje), it will be great for him and if the things are vice-versa, then too it will be great for him. However at the end of the day, it will be about winning matches and contributing in the team’s success.
The Proteas pacer played in the IPL 2022 for Delhi Capitals and took 12 wickets in the 8 matches that he played for the team and his economy rate was just a little over than 6.
The 4th match will be played at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot, and both the teams will like to win this match. If the visitors win it, they will win the series whereas on the other hand, India needs to attain victory in this match in order to keep themselves alive in the series as the visitors are already ahead by 2-1.
Do you think Umran Malik will get to debut today?